Generative AI in English Language Teaching: Students’ Voices, Teachers’ Reactions, and Needs

Due to the rapid emergence and use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) by English as a foreign language (EFL) students in higher education (HE), further research is required to understand English language teaching (ELT) teachers’ training needs to effectively manage digitally enhanced teaching and learning. This study identifies teachers’ needs by investigating Turkish ELT teachers’ reactions to their students’ self-reported GenAI usage. Our transcendental phenomenological research design ensured minimal author bias from the thematically analysed, qualitative, interview data from 21 Turkish undergraduate EFL students (B1-C1 level) and six Turkish ELT teachers. Analysis has revealed that students used ChatGPT (version 3.5) as a human collaborator to build content, clarify tasks, be a critical friend, organise ideas, enhance language, and obtain feedback, which they found motivating. However, teachers’ reactions to their students’ usage were inconsistent and exposed a need for unified teacher identity development that is shaped by GenAI literacy training and supported by institutional policies that address GenAI integration into curriculum design and assessment practices.